


a universe of his own

by cherriesbucky



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Spoilers, Spoilers - Kingdom Hearts III, all my dreams came true, the Isa/Lea is kind of implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 05:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17595620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherriesbucky/pseuds/cherriesbucky
Summary: The rest of the universe can wait.  After thirteen years, Lea is finally, finally content.





	a universe of his own

Their childhood was a complete shitshow. No surprise. He’d reflect on it later and – well, hell, they were never gonna get a normal childhood anyway, right? Not with Isa’s parents and their strict code of belts and hands and their arsenal of language. Not with Lea’s history, all smudged paperwork and money that came in an anonymous cream envelope on the twentieth of every month. But never in his life would he have thought it would all come to _this_.

He says _this_ in reference to the lazy Saturday mornings they spend in their little house on the outskirts of Twilight Town. Isa makes pancakes and Xion always adds too many blueberries that turn the batter itself blue. Roxas complains from the couch about the music drifting out of the radio and Lea laughs at the three of them, his family built from rags and ashes.

It feels almost unsettling. It shouldn’t be this normal. It shouldn’t feel so right to make dinner together every night and go to high school games and shop for groceries. And in a way, it doesn’t feel quite normal. But maybe that’s because he spent thirteen years of his life without a heart. No one really thinks of having a family of their own someday when they’re fifteen, and after Xehanort tore out his heart in that dark lab basement, he… well, he forgot. There wasn’t any time for him to dream of a future that involved anything other than getting himself and Isa their hearts back.

Yeah, sure, sometimes he _does_ miss getting to swing a weapon around. Sometimes he and Roxas push back all the furniture in the living room and spar right there on the rug until Isa comes back from his daily walks and glares until they melt through the floor. And the memories never really disappear – Isa’s scar, Xion’s nightmares. They all still hurt. And Lea doesn’t point out how Isa flinches at himself in the mirror every morning or the nightlight Xion tried to hide from them all.

But then there are the little moments. Isa and Xion make hot chocolate every Sunday night and walk through the forest outside their home – Isa teaches her all about the stars and their patterns, and Xion buys him a necklace with a moon pendant for his first birthday after his re-completion. He wears it every day.

Roxas joins one of Twilight Town’s many intramural Struggle teams (no surprise there) and spends his afternoons with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. He always comes home for dinner, though, and spends the rest of the evening playing video games (loudly) with Xion or struggling through his homework (also very loudly). Some weekends he goes to Destiny Islands and simply sits with Kairi on her branch overlooking the water. _It’s good for her,_ he always says. _Sometimes, I can feel him, and I want her to know that he’s still here. One way or another._

And Lea? Well.

Sometimes he gets restless. That was always bound to happen. Lea never liked to stay in one place for long. When he was in middle school, he floated from classroom to classroom, avoiding suspension thanks to Isa’s watchful eye but never detention. When he was in high school, he watched the stars Isa loved so much and dreamed of one day traveling the worlds. He wanted to see it _all_ – to see the people, the animals, the buildings. The fire that burnt in each star.

In a way, he still dreams of seeing that fire. And maybe one day he will – after all, he has the rest of his life to live, and that’s as close to forever as he’s ever going to get.

But when he kisses Isa, he forgets all about the stars he has yet to see. When he helps Xion get ready for her first high school dance, he thinks he understands that the universe has given him more than he ever asked for. When Roxas finally turns to Lea and tells him that he thinks he likes rocky road better than sea salt ice cream, Lea smiles wide enough to crack the sky open.

So maybe the rest of the universe can wait.

After all, he’s got a whole world within the walls of this tiny little home to explore first.

**Author's Note:**

> While I had some arguments with KH3, the Sea Salt Family becoming canon is actually the stuff of my dreams. Thanks Nomura!


End file.
